KYIV, Ukraine, March 30, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday hailed "historic" defence agreements signed with Middle Eastern countries last week on a visit to the region.

Ukraine signed defence agreements with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last week.

The contents of the deals have not been made public, but Zelensky has said they include Ukrainian expertise in downing drones, a pressing need as Iranian strikes target Gulf countries in the Middle East war.

"I believe these are historic agreements. We are reaching understanding on strategic cooperation in the military technology area and in other areas. We are talking about 10-year agreements," Zelensky told reporters.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help the Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its relatively cheap drone interceptors for the expensive air-defence missiles that the Gulf is currently using to down Iranian drones.